Our naughtybits are not usually push-button ignitions. Most of us require something to turn the key, rev the engine a little—give it a little love. That’s what gets most of us going, even when we’re at our horniest and ready to blow. It’s oftentimes too tough to just jump straight into sex, no matter how ready we are to experience the little death that is an orgasm. Give us some context! Tell us what’s going on and who is having sex and why. Is trite and cliche as it sounds sometimes, there’s a reason that people say the brain is the biggest erogenous zone. Using story and plot deepens our bond to the monkey business going on in the nude on a screen.
We can all get turned on at the sight of penetration or an especially good-looking body part, but without plot it can ring hollow for many. Story-driven porn is like good foreplay before we get to the act. If we’re alone, it allows us to build up the tension before the release. If we are with a special someone (or special someones) it allows us the time to tease one another and physically get that engine purring in time for the sex. Some studios have made it a staple of their productions to put real thought and writing and acting (and sometimes set decoration and special effects and exotic locations) into their porn. Some do it better than others. And some practically base their identity on everything that happens leading up to the sex. And it is these studios who put out good work—who take the time to give us some background to the sex—that we are celebrating with this list. It will be a work in progress, and I will give you a movie or two to start with for each. So keep checking back to see if the article has been updated!
MissaX, for my money, is the name in the game for plot-driven porn. Though the movies are typically not longer than one scene, an emphasis on dialogue and acting pushes them to the forefront of pornographic storytelling. The studio tends to focus on taboo subjects, opting primarily for the messed-up power dynamics inside a family. Check out Under The Veil for one of their most ambitious titles. I also LOVE The Portal, My Virginity Is A Burden IV, and DeJa Vu.
Pure Taboo takes a giddy pride in being super fucked up. Where MissaX parlays power dynamics and family into a sometimes-sweet end product, Pure Taboo revels in the grime and misery of the human condition. Pure Taboo takes plotlines to the absolute edge of depravity and teeters on the tightrope setup in depicting consent and manipulation (note that it is all fictional and this a professional studio that informs their performers and adheres to standard practices of ethics). It’s a safe haven where we are able to live out or peep on some of our darkest fantasies from the safety of our own phone or computer screen. Movies follow the featurette format and there are typically two medium-length, one-scene stories per title. Want something to get you hard (or lady hard) and ruin your childhood at the same time? Try Anne – A Taboo Parody. Want dystopian sci-fi sex a la Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone? Watch the Future Darkly series. Or if you just want to watch messed up taboo porn, try Uncle Fucker or Sex Addicts Anonymous.
A hard pivot from the warped sensibilities of the previous entries, Marc Dorcel represents some of the best elegant porn out there. Dorcel, a French studio with an over-40-year history manages to show sex at its most classy—without losing any of its heat! They have several long-running series of movies that follow parallel themes, such as the Escorts Deluxe series and Russian Institute. Some all-time greats include Ines – Escort Deluxe and Russian Institute – The Hussy. Back in 2019 I even wrote an article about the 10 Must-See Movies From Marc Dorcel.
There are hundreds of studios producing adult films, but there really is only one Digital Playground. The studio, founded in the 90s, grew to be one of the first names off anybody’s tongue when talking adult entertainment. They are such a sterling, influential studio that I just recently wrote a piece on the Greatest Digital Playground Movies Of All-Time. The short version of the article is this: they hit their stride in 2005 with the ultra-mega-blockbuster Pirates, they signed some of the most beautiful and talented women ever as contract stars (and put them in really good movies), and they continue to create amazing films 20-ish years later. Two movies I didn’t get a chance to shout-out but still love are No Mercy For Mankind and Fly Girls.
Sweet Sinner has been in the business of making delightfully naughty movies since the mini erotica boom of the late aughts. Several of the films are interesting little vignettes around some sort of central theme. Others, however, are full-on feature films from the likes of top-flight directors like Nica Noelle, James Avalon, and Jacky St. James—who has done the lion’s share of the films lately. Some spectacular recent starting points are the award-nominated Deceived, Toxic, and Family’s Dirty Secrets. And two related sister studios to give a shot are Sweetheart Video and Family Sinners.
Perhaps no other studio is more synonymous with progressive, interesting, innovative, story-driven adult entertainment than Lust Cinema (aka Erika Lust Films). Lust employs a bevvy of diverse directors and has worked to create an inclusive environment to explore all the dimensions of sexual orientations, kink, and gender in ways that are stimulating and thought-provoking. Not every film is deep; several of them are light-hearted like the rom-com I Love You, You’re Fired. Others, like Primary, explore deep interpersonal relationships. And a movie like Safe Word delves into the world of BDSM through an outsider’s lens.
ForPlay Films is one of the most recent additions to the HotMovies family. The brainchild of visionary director and erotic activist Inka Winter, ForPlay Films shares a spiritual bond with Lust Cinema. In fact, Winter has also directed a film for the studio. As of the time of the writing of this article, only one film has been added from ForPlay, the fun and erotic Murder Mystery.
There is no more venerable studio in the history of adult than Adam & Eve. Started in the 1960s as a way of getting people sexual protection and, later, marital aids, Adam & Eve has also grown into a staple of quality story-driven pornography. The studio employs a full-time sexologist to ensure that all of the material in the film is sexually healthy and does not promote anything that could be seen as damaging. But make no mistake—these movies are far from tame or boring. All-time classics such as The Surrender Of O, Babystitting The Baumgartners, and Unfolding exist in an impressive catalog alongside fun fare such as Love Emergency and Love, Sex & Fashion.
Wicked is a glamour studio that has been responsible for crafting some of the most engaging pornographic films of the last 30 years. With their focus on story, acting, and—in many cases—a big budget, they have consistently been a go-to studio for fans of plot in their porn. Going back, they have classic big budget features like Flashpoint X (starring Jenna Jameson, Jill Kelly, and Asia Carrera) and Space Nuts (starring longtime Wicked girl Stormy Daniels). They had another era defined by contract performers like Jessica Drake and Kaylani Lei and Keri Sable filled with movies like Curse Eternal and Manhunters. Wicked has also been home to parody master Axel Braun for the last several years.
It is possible that our American customers might not be so familiar with them, but rest assured that Jacquie Et Michel are a European powerhouse studio. While they have several labels that exist underneath them, the one to go to for interesting, well-shot, sexy high budget features is ELITE. Jacquie Et Michel saw its beginnings in 1999, but the ELITE line launched in 2015, and they’ve been kicking butt ever since. Some notable entries in their impressive library (every movie is well worth watching) include the hidden kink life discovery of The Education Of Tiffany, the vampire tale Trick Or Treat, and the Bond-ish spy thriller ASS 117 – Operation Japan.
British-based JoyBear has carefully cultivated a reputation for scorching-hot couples fare. Featuring a mix of American and international talent, JoyBear fleshes out their movies with the utmost care. The studio got its start in 2003 and has been adding movies of consistent quality, thought, and love ever since. The vampire film Close To The Bone is a must-watch. Love Is Blind is as emotional as it is erotic. My personal favorite, however, remains Secret Sex Society 2: The Game.
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Begun all the way in 1965, the Swedish company (now based in Spain), Private, remains one of the largest and most illustrious pornographic companies in the world. Private has so many movies that they are known for just about everything—gonzo, fetish, vignettes among them. But what really put Private as a studio on the map is the big-budget feature. When AVN Magazine created a Top 500 All-Time list, several Private titles were among them. All-time classics like Cleopatra, Tatiana, and Amanda’s Diary – Chapter 2 are staples of what people in the know know of Private. Lucky for us, in addition to all their other quality content they regularly produce, they are still giving us features to crow about, like The Heiress and the stunning period piece Newton: Genius And Stud.
AllHerLuv is the all-girl sister studio to MissaX. The absence of men in the movies doesn’t diminish anything about the quality of the writing, plot, or content. There is still a strong focus on story in these productions, with a large amount of dialogue leading up to the sex in these often one-scene featurettes. Some of the best movies made by directors Missa, Ricky Greenwood, and Whitney Wright have been for the AllHerLuv label. Some good starting points are modern classics Written In The Stars, The Path To Forgiveness, and The Producer. And if you are interested in futa movies (that is, faked hermaphroditic women), I recommend checking out Crush.
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